Appointed to Stumble

Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “ The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,” and “ A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. I Pet. 2:7-8

Question: Why do some stumble? Answer: Because they are disobedient to the Word.

Men are not appointed by God to be disobedient (as Calvinism falsely teaches). They are, however, appointed by God to stumble if they are disobedient. God has determined that all who are disobedient to His voice and His Word shall stumble. In like manner, God has determined that all who are obedient to His Word shall be upheld by it and shall not stumble.

The choice is with you; will you obey God’s Word or not? You are free to choose obedience or disobedience, but you are not free to choose the consequences of your actions. God has sewn into the fabric of the world the principle of reaping what we sow. If we sow disobedience to the Word of God, we are foolish men building upon the sand. No matter how beautiful the structure may appear for a time, the flood of God’s judgment will carry it away. (Matt. 7:24-27)

Jesus Christ is the Word of God (John 1:1, Rev. 19:13) and the “chief cornerstone,” without which the whole building falls. Those who reject Him are appointed to stumble. They are appointed to have their “house” destroyed.

Speaking to apostate and disobedient Israel, the prophet Jeremiah relayed this message:

To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Indeed their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of the LORD is a reproach to them; they have no delight in it. Jer. 6:10

Behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people—the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not heeded My words nor My law, but rejected it. Jer. 6:19

Therefore thus says the LORD: “ Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall on them. The neighbor and his friend shall perish.” Jer. 6:21

Did you catch that? WHY did God say He would lay stumbling blocks before this people? It was because they did not delight in the Word of the Lord, and refused to heed it. They were disobedient. God lays the blame on the people; in fact, He said the calamity He would bring on them was actually “the fruit of their thoughts.” They would reap what they had sown.

Hosea 14:1 is another witness to the fact that disobedience is the reason why people stumble:

O Israel, return to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

Again,

Hear and give ear: Do not be proud, For the LORD has spoken. Give glory to the LORD your God before He causes darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and while you are looking for light, He turns it into the shadow of death and makes it dense darkness. Jer. 13:15-16

Here is a warning–Hear and give ear to God’s Word! Give glory to the Lord or He will cause darkness to come upon you (spiritual blindness), and your feet will stumble. You have a choice, friend.

Jesus repeated these warnings in the New Testament:

Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him. Luke 8:18

Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you… John 12:35

Jesus is both the Word of God and the Light of the World. If you will not heed the Word of God, nor walk in His Light while He shines His truth upon you, what light you have will be taken from you; and what Word has been sown into your heart shall be snatched away by satan or choked out by the “cares, riches and pleasures of life.” But if you hear the Word with a “noble and good heart, keep it (obey it) and bear fruit with patience,” you will be blessed of God. (Luke 8:11-15)

“If you will return, O Israel,” says the LORD, “Return to Me; And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, then you shall not be moved.” Jer. 4:1

Notice that little word “if” in the previous verse. Would you like to be kept from stumbling? Heed God’s Word (obey Jesus Christ) and return to Him, putting your sins out of His sight.

He who heeds the word wisely will find good, and whoever trusts in the LORD, happy is he. Prov. 16:20

I will bless the LORD who has given me counsel; my heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the LORD always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Psa. 16:7-8